Electrical steering-gear.



J. D. WILLIAMSON, In. ELECTRICAL STEERING GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.16, 1910.

1,088,503. Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

6 SHEETS-8KEBT 1.

' J. D. WILLIAMSON, Jn. ELECTRICAL STEERING GEAR. APPLIOATIOH IILED' IB.16, 1910. 1,088,503. Patented Feb. 24, 1914 5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. D. WILLIAMSON, h, ELECTRICAL STEERING GEAR. APPLIOATIOL. FILED PEBJG, 19 10.

088,503. 7 v Patented Feb. 24, 1914;

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. D. WILLIAMSON, Jn. ELECTRICAL STEERING GEAR.

APPLIGATION FILED rmme, 1910.

1,088,503. Pdtented Feb. 24, 1914.

J. n. WILLIAMSDN, JR. ELECTRICAL STEERING GEAR. AIfPLIGATION PIE-151D TEB.16, 1910.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN D. WILLIAMSON, 33., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAMSON BROS. 00., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN D. WILLIAM- soN, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Electrical steeringaGears, of which the following is a specification.

One objectof my invention is to provide a combination of apparatus, including an electric motor, whereb vessel may be operate it being particularly desired-to provide a relatively simplev means for controlling the starting andstop ping of such motor. I

I further desire to provide an electrical steering gear having the above noted characteristics, in which the motor controlling switch or switches may be manually moved tion of theapparatusshown in Fig. 1; Fig.

to start the motor and automatically returned to. the 01f position after said. motor emotor itself to its off position, which switch has in connection with it some means for-preventing a breakage of the, motor current at. certain of its contacts, and isalso so constructed as to prevent damage to the motor or to any of the controlling devices owing to improper. manipulation of the handcbntrolled apparatus.

These objects and other advantageous ends Isecur'e as hereinafter set forth, reference bein had to the accompanying drawings," in w ich;-

Figure 1, plan, partly in section and to some extent diagrammatic,

ing to my invention; Fig. 2, is a side eleva- 3. is a side elevation, partly diagrammatic,

illustrating amodificd form of my inven-' tion; Figs. it-and 5 are respectively a partly diagrammatic side elevation and a partly.

sectional plan of another modification of the motor controlling means; Fig. 6, is a.

diagramjof the connections of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4; Figs? and 8 are respectively a side elevation and a partly sectional plan of a further modification, and Fig. 9

illustrates. another form of my invention.

In the above drawings, 1 1s a drum on" Specification of Letters Patent.

the rudder of a' showing. a con'ibination of apparatus arranged accord ELECTRICAL STEERING-GEAR.

Patented Feb. 24;, 1914.

Application filed February 16, 1910. Serial No. 544,258.

which are wound the cables or chains connected to the head of the rudder and said drum is mounted on a shaft carried in bearings on a frame 2.; there being fixed to it a worm-wheel 3 and a spur gear 1. Engaging the worm wheel is -a worm 5 fixed on the provide the power necessary for operating the drum. 'The frame '2 also has a bearing for the support of alongitudinally movable shaft 7 forming part of a floating mechanism including a relatively narrow faced gear 8 meshing with the broad gear 1, and a nut 9 revolubly mounted in a bearing 10. but held thereby from longitudinal movement. Said shaft has a threaded portion passing through this nut and has fixedly mounted on it a collar 11 engaged by the forked end of a lever 12 fulcrumed on the frame 2 and constituting a floating memher. The nut has connected to it (integrally in the present case) a beveled gear 9 designedto mesh with a secondbeveled gear 13 mounted on a vertical shaft 14 which is directly operated from a hand steerin wheel 14. The lever 12 is connected through a link with a pair of contact arms 15 and 15, or as in Figs. 4 and 5, is itself constructed to serve as a contact arm de signed to co-act with two series of contacts 16 and 16 mounted on a slab 17 of insulatarmature shaft of a motor 6 designed to A ing material and connected to different points of a bod of starting or controlling to move longitudinally so that .the'lever 12 is turned on its fulcrum and moves the contact arms to one side or the other of their central position, thus bringing them into engagement with the contacts so as to supply current to the motor and start the same. The operation of the motor turns the worm 5 and the worm wheel 3, thereby also turning the drum 1,- and through the cables wound upon or delivered therefrom, alter rent oil from the motor, which is thus per,

ing the position of the rudder to which said cables are connected. The operation of the motor, however, also turns the 'ears 4 and 8 and thus turns the screw shatt 7 in such a direction that this is forced to move through the fixed nut 9 in a direction which gives to the collar 11 and lever 12 a motion the reverse of that originally given them. The lever thus gradually returns the contact arms to their ofi positions, cutting curmitted' to come to rest, Further operation 7 of the shaft 14 by the} steering gear causes another operation of the motor and its sub sequent automatic stoppage, so that the rudder may be brought to any desired angle relatively to its normal position or may be returned to such position as desired.

For reversing the direction of rotation of the motor armature there is provided a central contact piece 19 permanently connected to one of the current supply mains, and the two contact arms are respectively connected to the two armature terminals ;one terminal of the rheostat being connected to the second supply main while the field winding of the motor in this case is separately excited. As a consequence, the motor armature turns in one direction when the contact arms are moved to one side of their central position and in an opposite direction when said arms are moved to the other side; the contact arms and contacts acting as a reversing switch. If desired, this starting and reversing switch may be made to control an auxiliary. switch whereby the armature circuit of the motor is kept open until the arms 15 and 15 have fully engaged the contacts 19 and 16 or 16, as the case may be, and is broken before said contact arms are moved out of engagement with their contacts. For this purpose, I may employ a combination of apparatus such as is shown in Fig. 3, in which I mount on the rheostat slab 17 a pairof auxiliary contacts 20 in position to be engaged by special contacts 21 on the arms 15 and 15* when these are moved to either side of the mid or oil position. Both the contacts 20 are connectedto each other, as are also the contacts 21; these lat- 'ter being also connected to one end of the winding of a solenoid 22, whose second end is connected to one, current supply main while said contacts are connected to the second main. The core of the solenoid is at tached to the movable member 23 of any desired form of switch, illustrated in Fig. 6, as of the mercury type, which is connected in the main motor circuit. With this arrangement of parts, the first movement of the arms 15 and-15 from their off position brings one of the contacts 21 into cngagement with one of the contacts 90, thereby permitting current to energize the solenoid, which is so designed that when so energized it closes the switch to which its core is connected and thus completes the armature circuit of the motor. By the time, however, that this solenoid-controlled switch has closed .the armature circuit, one of the arms 15 has engaged one set of the contacts 16, while the other has engaged a contact plate 19, thereby permitting current to flow to the armature of the motor through a body of resistance whose amount depends upon the extent of the displacement of the arms 15 and 15 from their ofi position. In this case, as well as in that previously noted, it will be seen that the connections are such that the contacts on the slab or plate 17 constitute a reversing switch.

If desired, the apparatus used in Figs. 4, 5, and 6 may be employed, according to which arrangement the lever arm 12 connected to the collar 11 itself acts as the contact arm of the rheost-at and at the same time controls a switch, in this case of the double-throw, three-pole type, whereby the direction of the current flow to the armature of the motor is COIItIOlIGd QS is also the switch governing the current' flow through the solenoid 22. For this purpose the parts are so arranged that through the medium of a link 12*, a lever 25 is rocked on its fulcrum when the contact arm 12 is moved 95 by the collar 11, so that three of the contacts 30, 31, 31*, 32, and 32 are moved into or out of mercury cups or other suitable fixed contacts. Of these cups and contacts, the first four pairs are connected to form a reversing switch for the motor, while the last pair is arranged to form a switch in circuit with the winding of the solenoid 22. With this arrangement. of parts, the displacement of the contact arm from its central position closes two sets of contacts of the reversing switch and at the same time closes the circuit of the solenoid windin so that this latter acts to close the switcil which it controls, as described in connection with Fig. 3, and thereby makes the final closing of the armature circuit. In order that damage may not result from such a small displacement of the contact arm 12 as would be insufiicient to start the motor, 115 I connect across the line the winding of a second solenoid 33, so' that this is energized as soon as current is turned on to the appa ratus by such a displacement of the contact arm as would bring it into engagement with 120 the first of the contacts of the rheostat. This solenoid controls an automatic rhco static switch which includes a series of contacts 33 connected to various points of the resistance 18, an elongated contact 33", and 125 a bridging piece at all times engaging the latter contact while being capable of engag ing any of said contacts 33 This bridging manner" well known inthe electrical art, it serves to automatically start the motor, thus causing this latter to operate to the desired extent and then bring itself to rest by rotating and longitudinally moving its shaft with the collar 11, with the resultant movingcf the contact arm to its off position, as heretofore described. I

The apparatus shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is so arranged that the switch for controlling the flow of-current through the winding of the solenoid 29. is mounted on the slab 1'7,

- and as in the case illustrated in Fig. 4, the

reversing switch with the circuit control ling solenoid is external to said s lab.

In that form of switch show-n in Fig. 9, I

connect to the arm 12"which is controlled by the collar 11, a cross head 85 mounted to slide upon a pair-of bars and B, each of which is divided into several parts electrically insulated from one another.' In the structure shown, the bar A has three active parts a, a'; ;and ;.a ofwhich the latter is permanently'cdnii ected to one of the current supply mains. activeparts of which those at its extremities, indicated at Z1 and be, are electrically connected to each other and to the second current supply main. The cross head 35 includes twotransverse bars each consisting of two parts insulated from each other, theparts 35 and 35 being slidable on the bar A and the parts 35 and 35 being slidable on the bar B. The two latter of these parts of the crosshead are respectively connected to the terminals of the motor armature while the parts 35 and 35 have contact brushes 50 and 51 placed to engage the contacts 16 and 16 mounted on a suitable supporting structure. The armature resistance 1-8 is connected to these contacts in the customary manner and has one of its ends connected to the art b of the bar-B. As before, any disp acement of the lever 12 to either side of its off position, moves the crosshead 35 so as to start the motor, whose operation actuates the rudder and brings said crosshead back to its off position, with consequent stoppage of the motor. In this case I have provided the collar 11 with a projecting tooth and have placed a cooperating tooth on the rotary nut 9 or the beveled gear 9*,so that after the rotation of said nut has moved the shaft with said collar a predetermined distance .in' one direction, said teeth come into engagement to prevent further movement thereof or jamming. Similarly the gear wheel 9 has on its opposlte side a second tooth designed to cooperate with a tooth .on the adjacent end of the shaft to prevent excessive movement or jamming when said shaft is turned a predetermined distance in the opposite direction.

I claim;

1. The combination of a member con- The second bar B has fivev I nected to a device to be actuated; an electricmotor for operating said member; and controlling means for said motor; said means including an electric starting switch; hand operated means for moving said switch from its off osition to start the motor; means connecting the switch with the motor for automatically returning it to its oil position; an automatically acting switch forstarting the motor independently of said first start ing switch after the latter has been moved from its ofl position; and a switch actuated by said hand operated means for controlling said automatic switch.

2. The combination of a member connected to a device to be actuated; an electric motor for operating said member; and controlling means for said motor; the same including a starting switch; hand operated means for moving said switch from its oif positlon to start the motor; means connectin the switch with the motor for automatica ly returning it to its oil position; and a reversing switch mechanically connected to said starting switch.

3. The combination of a member connected to a device to be actuated; anelectric motor for operating said member; and a rheostatic switch for controllin the starting of the motor; said switch including a member operative both by hand and. by said electric motor; with an automatic motor starting device connected to start the motor.

independently of said rheostatic switch after this has been moved from'its off position.

4. The combination of a member con nected to a device to be actuated; an electric motor for operating said member; a floating member; hand operated means for actuating said floating member; means for connecting the floating member to the motor for automatically returning it to its off position after it has been moved therefrom by hand; a starting switch directly operated by said floating member, and a motor reversing switch" mechanically connected to said floating member.

5. The combination of a member connected to a device to be actuated; an electric motor for operating said member; a controlling switch for the motor; a floating member movable by the motor for returning the switch to its off position; means for operating the floating member by hand independent] y of the motor; with a switch controlled by the floating member and havin means for closing the motor circuit after the start ing switch has been closed and for breakin movable by the motor for returning the switch to its off position; means for operating the floating member by hand independently of the motor; an electromagnetic switch connected to close the motor circuit after the controlling switch has been closed and to break said circuit before the contro1- ling switch is opened; with auxiliary contacts controlled by said floating member for 

